Tuesday, January 13, 2009

The Bunker goes Monthly


One of our favorite NYC party has to be hands down The Bunker on Friday Nights. Unfortunately they will only be delivering a monthly doses staring in January 09. So know you have more time to schedule yourself around and mark your calendar because now the dose promises to be double adrenaline....


Line-up /
BACK ROOM:
John Tejada (Palette, Poker Flat | Los Angeles)
Silent Servant (Sandwell District, Historia y Violencia | Minneapolis)

FRONT ROOM - UNDERGROUND QUALITY SHOWCASE:
DJ Jus-Ed (Underground Quality | Connecticut)
DJ Qu (Underground Quality, Strength Music | New Jersey)
Fred P aka Black Jazz Consortium (UQ, Soul People Music | NYC)
Anthony Parasole (UQ, Deconstruct, Halcyon | Brooklyn)



Has it really been two years since we had John Tejada play at The Bunker? John has played many memorable Beyond Events in NYC. Way back in 2003 (first year of the Bunker), John was in town for some audio conference, and was good friends with a Tonic employee, who managed to get him booked at The Bunker. He was amazing that night (we remember him cutting up doubles of SmithNHack and driving people mental), and played the gig for next to no money (we weren't even charging a cover yet). The he played at that insane woodshop party in Bushwick and destroyed the place. And he also played a memorable all hardware live set during our short stint at Luna Lounge in 2007. Tonight Tejada will treat us to a DJ set. John is an incredibly talented DJ, with skills on par with some of the fastest hip-hop DJs, which is unusual for a techno jock. For those of you who do not know, John Tejada is one of the most talented producers in the world. It could be argued that he has the better ear for melody than anyone else making techno right now. The last time we saw him play live, many in the crowd couldn't believe that every single track was his, as they were all instantly recognizable hits they'd been hearing in clubs for years. John runs the Palette label, but has released on many other labels as well, including Steve Bug's Poker Flat, Dan Bell's 7th City, and Pole's ~scape. Most recently, he released the mindblowing "Where" album on Palette in 2008, and releases the 44th edition of Fabric's mix CD series this month.

We first became aware of John Mendez in 1998 when a series of amazing records on a new label called Cytrax began appearing in NYC. Mendez founded the label, and recorded for it under his Jasper alias. The label produced tons of amazing records, mostly from new (at the time) west coast techno producers like Kit Clayton, Sutehk, Safety Scissors, and Twerk, all with a very unique and strangely psychedelic take on the sounds coming out of Detroit and Berlin. We cannot underestimate how important this label was in eventually steering us in the direction of founding The Bunker. Jasper also mixed the "Rauschen 15" CD for Force Inc, which made him into a successful international touring techno DJ for a few years. From 2002 to 2006, we heard no new music from Mendez, and thought he had given up on production. Then, he started releasing under a new alias, Silent Servant, for the shit-hot Sandwell District label. Now, in 2008, his name is back on the radar and he's blowing minds with his new productions and his amazing mnml.ssgs podcast (ESSENTIAL LISTENING). After all these years of being such huge fans, we're honored to finally have Mendez join us at The Bunker, where he's sure to rip that back room a new one.

A voyage into the world of DJ Jus-Ed reveals an adventurous, energetic and spiritual style of playing quality house music. Music has always been a part of Ed's life, starting at the tender of of six when he was a drummer touring with his grandparents' jazz duo. Ed's first foray into DJing began in 1982 and ended in 1985. He stayed away from DJing until 2001, when he launched Underground Quality as a series of parties with friend DJ Vic Money. Underground Quality branched out to become a record label in 2005. UQ has released nearly 20 records in three years, in the process becoming one of the hottest house music labels in the planet. After years of experience hosting and guesting on various radio programs, Ed has settled down at The Underground Quality Radio Show on myhouse-yourhouse.net. The program currently holds a cult like status with some of the most famous house music producers and record fiends alike, who tune in each an every Wednesday to sample some of the quality house music that Jus-Ed has become known and loved for the world over. In the past few years, Jus-Ed has appeared at many huge clubs in Europe, including Berghain/Panorama Bar in Berlin, Fabric in London, and Rex Club in Paris. Ed is the last person in the world to let any of his success go to his head. He is one of the most down to Earth dudes we've ever met, a family man who runs his own landscaping business in Connecticut to put food on the table. Ed was fantatic when he played for us at the first House-N-Home loft party, and again when he played a five hour set at The Bunker in December that most of you missed because of a snow storm.

DJ Qu has been a staple of the NYC house music scene for a long time now through his residency at House Dance Conference and other DJ appearances around town. Last year, he started the Strength Music imprint, and has really turned some heads with his orginal productions for the label. Qu has at least 10 new records coming out this year on a variety of labels.

Black Jazz Consortium aka Fred P, the studio maven behind the Soul People Music label, is one of the most sought after deep house artists to arise from NYC's underground in years. He's finally starting to get some recognition overseas as well, and will be leaving shortly for a European tour with DJ Jus-Ed and DJ Qu. His selections during his tagteam set with Qu at House-N-Home were some of the deepest darkest house we've ever heard. Like everyone in the UQ family, 2009 looks like it's going to be a huge year for Fred.

Anthony Parasole has been having a really big year. He launched the Deconstruct record label with Levon Vincent, and will be a recording artist on Levon's Novel Sound label. NS-01 by Levon Vincent and Jus Ed has already sold out of it's first pressing, and immediately put the label on the map, being charted by Marcel Dettmann, Shed, and Jan Krueger. The first Deconstruct sold out almost immediately, and has stores like Hardwax in Berlin clamoring for more. Trust us, you will be hearing a lot about these labels in 2009, and you'll probably be hearing a bunch of the unreleased tracks in Anthony's set tonight. In February, you'll be hearing Anthony play at Made Events' new Save The Cannibals party, where he's opening for Cassy on Valentine's Day.

No comments: